


keep my heart beating like a drum

by prismvtic



Series: let the light in (5h prism songfics) [2]
Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, F/F, Songfic, ally is shy and too innocent for the world, camila is the dorkiest dork to ever dork, dinah aka the cupid we deserve, lauren is a hipster that happens to have a soft spot for dorks, normani is a punk rock teen who doesn't follow the rules
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:30:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismvtic/pseuds/prismvtic
Summary: "Legendary lovers, we could be legendaryLegendary lovers, we should be legendary."Ally thought a road trip would be the perfect way to catch up with her high school friends. She didn't expect to fall in love.





	keep my heart beating like a drum

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: legendary lovers is my fave prism song. so enjoy, lovelies!

Allyson Brooke Hernandez wouldn’t ever describe herself as adventurous. She was reserved, observing, more cautious than the people around her. But as a girl that grew up in the Northwoods, she was expected to be one with her surroundings. The truth was that Ally would be most likely the one to start crying when a mosquito bit her. And yes, that had definitely happened to Ally before.

The truth was Ally didn’t have much of a crazy life up in northern Wisconsin. She was a typical small town girl. She went to church every Sunday, she was apart of every club she could be at tiny South Shore High, and she lived on a farm. Well, not exactly. No one could actually have a farm because all of the crops would die due to the freezing temperatures. Ally did have horses and lots of acres of land.

Port Wing was a very small town, with a population barely reaching four hundred people. The most special things about the town were the annual fish boil and the fact that a famous Swedish author used to live there. The only entertainment was the Friday high school football games and the Sunday professional football games played at the small and crowded bar in town.

Ally had two people who kept her company.

The first person was Dinah Jane Hansen, a childhood friend of hers that lived just down the road with her huge family. Ally always wondered how Dinah could fit all of her family into one tiny log cabin. Later in life, Dinah practically moved into her home. She said that she liked it a lot better in their quiet house. Dinah was a good friend. She was both hilarious and boisterous, and a lot more adventurous than Ally. Dinah jumped off one of the cliffs at Quarry Bay into Lake Superior once.

Her other friend, Lauren Jauregui, was actually from Cornucopia, a smaller town fifteen miles from Port Wing. Cornucopia was a lot nicer than Port Wing. Lauren was not as loud and extroverted as Dinah, but she had her moments. Ally considered Lauren to be her quiet and intelligent friend that had a lot more common sense than Dinah. She still wasn’t as pure as Ally.

Ally thought their group was the incarnation of the id, ego, and superego.

The only problem with her friends was that they were years younger than her. Lauren was two years younger while Dinah was three. It was very uncommon for people to be the same age in such a small town. Ally’s graduating class consisted of seven people: five boys and two girls. Prom was an absolute joke.

For college, Ally decided to attend University of Minnesota Duluth for two reasons. The first reason was that Duluth was her absolute favorite city. Most people spoke fondly of New York City and Los Angeles. For Ally, Duluth was the place she was most fond of. Also, she could stay close to her friends while they finished up high school.

Thank the Lord she ended up loving UMD because both Lauren and Dinah went away to different colleges. Lauren went to University of Illinois Chicago to study Art History while Dinah went to University of Minnesota Twin Cities to study Dance. Ally was perfectly content with staying near her hometown and studying Freshwater Biology.

She completed her course and got her Bachelor’s degree that June, but she was offered to take a semester or two to study at the labs at UIC before going to get her Master’s degree and then Ph.D. The UIC opportunity wasn’t confirmed yet because she was up against ten other potential candidates, but she hoped and prayed that she would be picked. Ally was very headset on becoming a biologist.

Summer in Duluth was always nice. Not too hot, and sometimes cold, but not always. It was also the time that Lauren would come home from UIC after she finished her sophomore year and Dinah would return from her completed freshman year at UMTC. Dinah proposed that the three of them go on a road trip in a Skype call about a month ago. Lauren was ecstatic over the idea, while Ally was wary. Dinah assured her that they would be fine.

Ally never trusted anything that Dinah said completely.

It wasn’t until Ally was sitting in the waiting area near check-in when Dinah informed her that Lauren and Dinah would be bringing their roommates. Oh, and that Lauren’s flight was a little delayed because O’Hare International Airport was being a little female dog. She didn’t actually say female dog, but Ally refused to even think about saying the b-word.

Minutes after Ally received Dinah’s text, Dinah, and a short brunette walked out while swinging their joined hands violently. Ally squeaked in excitement and ran over to greet her best friend. Dinah screamed excitedly and opened her arms so Ally could jump into her arms.

“Ah, Smallz!” Dinah cheered as Ally threw her arms around her. She picked the short girl up and spun her around. “I see the Minnesota sun has made you paler.”

“May I remind you that you’re still in Minnesota?” Ally remarked as Dinah put her down. She turned to look over at the short brunette, who now stood to the side and watched the two nervously. She seemed nice enough, not too loud or obnoxious. She figured that in college Dinah would attract the rowdy crowd, but this girl seemed okay. “Hiya, I’m Ally, Dinah’s childhood best friend.” She outstretched her hand to her friend’s roommate so she could shake it.

The girl looked at Dinah hesitantly before she reached over and shook her hand. “I’m Camila. Dinah’s said a lot about you.”

“All good things I hope,” Ally said brightly, hoping to warm up to Camila.

Camila nodded her head. “Very good things. You’re just as cheerful and adorable that I imagined you to be.”

“Chancho, don’t be gay,” Dinah hissed.

Ally narrowed her eyes. “Dinah, I did not teach you the word chancho just for you to call your roommate that.”

Dinah and Camila burst out laughing. Now she understood why Camila and Dinah were good friends. Camila could literally be Dinah’s partner in crime with no trouble. Either that or they both liked to laugh at everything.

 “So, let’s go get your bags?” Ally asked for confirmation. Dinah nodded her head. “And then we wait for Laur and her roommate to get here.”

As the three of them made their way to the stairs. Ally heard Camila say, “is Laur the other best friend of yours that you say is a total hipster? Because I hate hipsters. They’re so weird and gross and Music History is filled with them.”

“Don’t worry,” Dinah assured her. “Lauren’s a cool hipster. Oh, and maybe a lil’ bit punk.”

Ally was glad that Dinah couldn’t see her because she rolled her eyes way too hard at that comment.

Baggage claim didn’t take too long. Mostly because the people flying from Minneapolis were there on business so they didn’t need to check their bags. Ally easily spotted Dinah’s crazy big duffle bag. Camila struggled to get her bag off the belt, but she finally succeeded after a bit of pulling.

Ally placed her hands on her hips in satisfaction. She felt someone tap on her shoulder. Ally nearly jumped up in the air but someone hugged her from behind, stopping her from doing so.

“Hey, Ally,” Lauren said as she squeezed her.

Ally smiled widely and turned around to hug Lauren properly. “Lauren!” She heard Lauren laugh at her excitement. “I’m so glad you’re here. But I thought your flight was delayed?”

Lauren pulled away and shook her head. “Nope. The other Chicago one was. Here, let me introduce you to my roommate.” She took a step back and tapped the shoulder of the dark-skinned girl next to her. The girl’s head bobbed up and she made eye contact with her. Ally felt like she was in a movie with everything freezing around her, leaving her alone in time and space with her. Lauren’s roommate was, pardon her language, so freaking beautiful. She was about Lauren’s height and had long wavy black hair with red streaks. She had a double lip piercing and an eyebrow piercing. Normally, Ally found piercings to be weird except for ears, but this girl made piercings crazy hot. She gave Lauren a run for her money. And her arms, oh goodness her arms, they were covered in tattoos. Hundreds of lotus flowers covered her skin, making it seem like her arms were literally made of ink. Ally found her to be so attractive, it was crazy.

“Ally am I, hi,” Ally stumbled on her words in total embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed, unable to believe she just made a huge fool out of herself in front of the hottest girl ever.

The girl smirked widely, causing Ally’s heartbeat to quicken. “Normani am I, you meet to nice,” she said slowly, annunciating each word

“Gosh, I’m so sorry for that, I guess I’m just tired,” Ally rushed out bashfully.

Normani shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, it’s fine. You’re Lauren’s best friend, so you were cool in my book before I even met you.”

“You think I’m cool?”

 “And fucking adorable.”

Ally flushed for two different reasons. First being the profanity, and second, being called adorable. She admitted to being very easily flattered.

Lauren chuckled. “Looks like you guys will get along great. I figured you would.” She winked. Normani’s previously playful demeanor changed to a scowl as she flipped her best friend off. Ally was just straight up confused.

“Lauser!” Dinah waved excitedly, catching the three girls’ attention. “Come meet my roommate.”

Ally watched Lauren stride over to Camila. Camila looked shellshocked, like she had seen a ghost, or just a really pretty girl. Ally couldn’t help but grin widely. Young love always made her happy. 

Lauren held her hand out. “Hey, I’m Lauren. I’m Dinah’s best friend.”

“I’m Camila,” Camila said smoothly. “Also known as your future bae-” She tried to lift Lauren’s hand up to kiss it, but she ended up slipping and falling flat on her butt. Dinah roared with laughter while Lauren quickly moved to help Camila up. Ally looked over at Normani. The gorgeous girl seemed to be thinking the same thing; this trip was going to be very, very interesting.

* * *

“This RV is stanky as hell, Ralph,” Dinah complained. “You sure you couldn’t get us anything nicer?”

“Considering we’ll be staying in hotels most nights, it was the cheapest I could get. Sorry, Hansen, I’m not exactly loaded,” Lauren shot back, clutching the wheel of the RV.

It took them a while to get on the road. Dinah wanted to have lunch at Grandma’s because she missed their “famous whitefish” and then they had to drive out to Bayfield, back in Wisconsin and a good ninety or so miles from Duluth, to get the actual RV. And then, to top it off, they had to drive all the way back to Highway 53, which took another hour and a half before they could finally get on the road again.

Their first stop was not far from their starting point because Camila wanted to show Dinah and her friends her family’s lake house and they could spend the first night there. No complaints were heard from any of the five girls, especially Lauren since she was on driving duty. They decided that they would rotate drivers every day starting with Lauren; and then followed by Normani, Dinah, and Ally. Camila still didn’t have her license yet so she’d have to sit on the couch of shame, which smelled like urine.

Dinah yawned. “Can we at least get some good music? If I hear Matty Healy’s voice one more time, I might cry.”

Camila huffed. “Cheechee, shut up, you just thought you could escape The 1975 after an entire year of me blasting it in our room!”

Dinah threw her jacket at Camila, while Lauren laughed softly. “Gosh, you’re such a dork, Camila, but I love it.” Camila’s eyes grew to the size of quarters as she tried to process the word “love”.

Normani had been quiet for most of the trip. She spent her time on her phone or staring in Ally’s direction. Ally convinced herself that Normani wasn’t staring at her. Ally looked so plain and simple compared to totally wild and rebellious Normani. There was probably something behind her.

“Have you ever been on a road trip before, Ally?” Normani asked. Ally jumped in surprise, not at all expecting to be addressed by Normani.

She was smirking again and Ally was totally blushing. She could feel it. “No, actually. This is the first time I’ll be leaving Minnesota or Wisconsin.”

Normani raised a brow. Ally silently wondered if raising a brow hurt her because of Normani’s piercings. She’d have to ask about it later. “Interesting, I’m actually from Houston. I wanted to get the hell out of Texas.”

“Why?” Ally was pretty sure she already knew the answer to her own question. 

Normani grimaced. “My family aren’t too proud of me. They want me to be a lawyer or a doctor but I’d rather study music business. I wanna be a producer,” she explained. Ally listened, fascinated by her story. “They don’t like my way of self-expression too. Marking my skin, poking holes in me, changing my hair color, you know. And they can’t even accept that I like girls.”

“Oh, Normani,” Ally breathed out, reaching out to grab Normani’s hand. Normani flinched at the contact but then relaxed. She sent the girl a small smile. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. No one deserves that.”

“What did your parents do?”

Ally furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

Normani scrunched her nose in thought. “You know...when you came out as a lesbian…”

“Oh! I’m not gay,” Ally denied quickly. She heard Dinah snort in the front seat. “Wait, let me rephrase that. I’m not straight. I’m pansexual. I like people, not their genders. You love who you love, right? But they were okay with it, surprisingly.”

Normani nodded her head. “Right,” she agreed. “But I’m still gay as fuck.”

Ally’s ears turned pink and she let go of Normani’s hand. She only realized now that she was still holding it. “Sheesh, people keep swearing way too much for me to handle.”

“Cause you’re a pussy, Smallz,” Dinah commented.

“Dinah Ja-ane,” Ally warned.

“Lauren! You’re supposed to turn left here at County B,” Camila said rushing towards the front seats. Lauren slammed on the brakes, causing Ally to jerk forward and almost fall off the couch. Luckily Normani caught her.

Lauren turned her head to look at Camila. “A little warning next time?” 

Camila pursed her lips apologetically. “Um, yeah, I’m sorry.”

Ally was surprised to find Lauren smiling back. “It’s okay, Camila.” She half-expected her best friend to blow up and yell at Camila like she did with Dinah whenever she messed up, but Lauren was acting sweeter than normal. Camila must have brought that good side out of her.

Lauren made a left turn into a smaller highway that looked to be very hilly.

“We’re almost there right, Camila?” Ally asked. She tended to get carsick easily.

“Yep, we’re like five minutes away now,” Camila answered. “There are enough beds for everyone. Two bunk beds and a double bed downstairs.”

Dinah clapped her hands together. “Great! I call the double bed.”

“Absolutely not, China,” Camila quipped. “This is the first time I’m going up to the house without my family, so I’ll for sure be taking my parents’ bed.”

“Or maybe I should take it,” Ally suggested. Three heads turned in her direction. Thankfully Lauren’s head was still pointed towards the road. “Considering you guys are roommates and I’m the fifth wheel, kind of. Seeing y’all naked might shock the nation.”

Lauren laughed softly. “Afraid you’ll shock the nation? You’ve seen Dinah and I naked. Remember when we went skinny dipping off of Stockton Island?”

Ally’s cheeks flushed at the memory. It was fun until the old hikers showed up and saw them. “Yeah, but I haven’t seen Camila or _Normani_ naked.”

Dinah howled with laughter at the way she empathized Normani’s name. She was so embarrassed in that exact moment that she wanted to shrivel up and die.

Just then Normani leaned over towards her. Her face was way too close to Ally’s face and Ally’s heartbeat increased to a mile a minute. “Don’t worry princess, it’s quite a sight to see. I have more tattoos.”

Ally’s face flushed red like a tomato. “I… um,” she mumbled. She ran a hand through her hair and averted her gaze. Normani was definitely something else, too bold and brash for Ally, but she kind of liked it.

* * *

Long Lake was sixteen miles it length and the deepest point was seventy feet. Camila’s lake house was near the narrower end of the lake. Apparently Larry the Cable Guy used to have a lake house on that lake, and it was still for sale for over two million dollars. Ally liked it a lot. Camila’s parents had amazing taste in decoration, but that left little room for the five young adults to move around. She was very afraid that Dinah would end up breaking something.

Spoiler alert: Dinah did, and Camila was not pleased with her at all. Ally began to question whether staying in the small lake house was such a great idea. Camila and Lauren went into town to go pick up a pizza from one of the local bars and restaurants, leaving Dinah, Ally, and Normani to sit alone and watch the news. Camila’s family didn’t have cable, unfortunately.

“Tag yourself, I’m the weatherman,” Dinah remarked as she brought a can of Coca-Cola to her lips.

“I’m the distressed woman complaining about her boat being stolen,” Normani added.

“I’m that dude’s bowtie,” Ally contributed. She pointed at the very ugly green bowtie on one of the newscasters. “Ugly and very out of place,” she explained.

Normani snorted. “Girl, you ain’t ugly or out of place. I refuse to allow that kind of self-deprecation in this house.”

“This isn’t even your house,” Ally argued playfully.

Dinah grinned and threw her empty bag of potato chips at Ally’s head. “Normani’s right, it’s my house. I claimed it when I knocked the nasty-ass vase over. That also means that I get the double bed.”

“Oh, bite me, Hansen,” Normani scowled.

“I will if you’re into it.” Dinah winked.

Ally rolled her eyes. “Children,” she scoffed. “I’ve been the mom friend since ‘94, and probably until death.”

Normani chuckled at her comment, sending Ally one of the smirks that drove her absolutely crazy. Ally suddenly felt her body heat up again. Poor Dinah, she must have felt like the third wheel. It was more like a fifth wheel actually because Camila and Lauren clearly had something going on.

“Seriously when are they going to get back? I know carry-out takes a while up here, but it’s been a decade and a half,” Dinah complained.

“It’s been an hour,” Normani corrected her.

Dinah groaned. “Like that’s any better!”

Ally smiled to herself. Dinah was such a drama queen when it came to food. Carry-out and ordering pizza always took forever in Port Wing. She must have been spoiled in Minneapolis. 

The door swung open and Lauren came in with two boxes of pizzas. Camila bounced in behind her. Ally noticed that both of them had bruised lips and disheveled hair. She’d have to ask Lauren about it later.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Dinah grumbled and stood up. “Tweedle Gay and Tweedle Gayer.” She marched over to snatch the pizza boxes out of Lauren’s hands.

“I’m bisexual,” Lauren said slowly.

Dinah shrugged. “Alright fine, lemme rephrase that.” She cleared her throat. “Look at what the cat dragged in, Tweedle Bisexual That Looks Like A Lesbian and Tweedle Gayer.”

Camila scrunched her nose. She brushed past Lauren and took a seat in the open chair next to Ally. “It may be correct now, but it doesn’t sound right.”

Dinah bounced over to the dining table and opened the pizza boxes. She grinned and wafted the smell of the pizza towards her. Dinah didn’t waste any time in pulling out a slice and taking a big bite out of it. Ally’s eyes widened in shock. This was the first time she didn’t see Dinah pray before she ate, and she always used to, even while Ally was away at college when she was at South Shore.

“Dinah,” she hissed. Dinah looked up, mouth stuffed with pizza, and tilted her head. “Didn’t you forget something?”

Dinah swallowed her pizza and snapped her fingers. “Oh, yes! Alcohol.” 

“Wait, that’s not what I meant--”

Lauren cheered. “I would be so down for some booze. Got any, Camila?” Camila didn’t expect Lauren to address her apparently because she jumped a bit. She quickly played it off with a small smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

“Probably in the basement, but it smells like rat shit,” Camila replied.

Ally knew she was the only one in the room legally allowed to drink alcohol. Even then, she still hated the disgusting taste. Dinah was going to end up going to hell for this. Oh, who was she kidding? The minute Dinah was popped out of her mother, Lucifer gave her a free ticket to his domain when she died.

Camila, Lauren, and Dinah chatted amiably with themselves as they made their way down the stairs to the basement. Ally was left alone with Normani. She looked over at the girl who happened to also be looking back at her. A small smile played on her lips as she regarded her.

“So,” Normani broke the silence with her heavenly voice. She scooted forward in her chair so she was closer to Ally. “What were you going to say to Dinah?”

Ally’s cheeks flushed. “Nothing, it’s not important.”

Normani raised a brow. “Clearly it is if it’s gotten you so worked up.” She lazily pointed at Ally’s face, “your cheeks are red.”

“My cheeks are red for a completely different reason,” Ally admitted quietly. “And um, I was going to remind Dinah to pray.” She winced, figuring that she sounded very cringe-worthy at that moment. She expected Normani to laugh and tease her. But the girl didn’t seem to care, she just looked at her and silently motioned her for her to continue. “I came from a God-loving family in a small town. I’m a walking-talking stereotype.”

“I came from a God-loving family too, so I know how you feel. Sometimes I want to give thanks to the Lord Almighty,” Normani shared with a laugh, “and then I remember that I chose to go rogue so God probably hates me.”

Ally shook her head violently and pursed her lips. “God doesn’t hate anyone. I’m sure you least of all.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, I like you,” Ally said reassuringly.

Normani chewed on her lower lip and briefly looked at her feet. Ally’s eyes couldn’t leave Normani’s lip piercing. She wondered what it would be like if she pressed her mouth to Normani’s. The cool metal hitting her soft lips would be such a magical feeling. Ally could run her hands through Normani’s colored locks and climb into her lap. She licked her lips at the thought.

She was brought back to reality. “You’re staring,” Normani accused with her signature smirk.

Ally’s blush returned. The sound of loud thumps and Camila’s screams came from the basement. Ally didn’t even want to know what was going on down there. “I’m thinking,” she replied.

“About what?” Normani pressed for more information.

Ally gave her a dreamy smile. “Maybe this is the beginning of something so magical tonight.”

* * *

The plan that Dinah came up with was to follow the Mississippi River as much as possible until they reached New Orleans where they would stay with a few of Normani’s cousins before flying to Chicago and then going their separate ways. A few cities that they’d end up going through included St. Louis, Memphis, and Jackson. In total it was a twenty-hour trip, but Lauren insisted on stopping when they arrived at big cities to see the sights. It beat being stuck in the RV for a long time.

During day three of their long journey, they crossed the bridge over the Mississippi River and arrived in St. Louis. The “Gateway to the West” they called it, but it was hardly impressive. They pulled into their designated camping spot forty miles or so from the actual city. Lauren couldn’t get a hotel room because they were all booked for the upcoming baseball game. Luckily the campground was right near the Mississippi River so they could go swimming in it with no problem. The only other issue was the tons of mosquitos.

Ally just hoped that Dinah packed proper tents because she did not want to sleep on the double bed in the back room. She was about eighty-seven percent sure that a kid took a dump there and never cleaned it up.

“What are we doing for dinner?” Normani asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

Dinah frowned. “Shit, I didn’t think about that.”

“You don’t think in general, Dinah,” Lauren said as she set up a tent.

“Not true,” Dinah shouted defensively. “I planned this trip.”

Camila chuckled. “With a lot of help from me. You wanted to stay in a five-star hotel every single night.”

Dinah pouted. Ally’s forehead creased in thought. “Guys, let’s not pick on Dinah. Maybe we can just have the sandwiches we made? It’s not much, but it’s too late to pack everything up and go out.”

Normani smiled at Ally. “Yeah, and then we can go grocery shopping tomorrow morning.”

“Good thinking, Ally,” Lauren agreed. She finished attaching the last part of the six-person tent and smiled widely. “I am the queen of setting up tents,” she said proudly.

Camila giggled. “All hail the queen.” She bowed in Lauren’s direction causing Lauren to blush profusely. Ally found it absolutely adorable. 

And in a typical Dinah matter, Dinah said, “they need to just date already.”

Both Camila and Lauren gave each other wide-eyed glances. Camila’s cheeks were now bright red. Lauren just ran a hand through her hair and cleared her throat awkwardly. Ally just glared at Dinah.

“Oh, look at what you just did,” Normani commented passively. “You caused the lesbians to have a panic. Gosh, Dinah, do you have any filter?

Dinah shook her head. “Rumor has it I shouted the word ‘fuck’ when my mom popped me out of her vajayjay and-”

“Do not finish that statement, Dinah Jane,” Ally squealed and covered her ears. Dinah bust out laughing at Ally. Sometimes she felt like she was the joke of the group. Mostly because she was so innocent and pure compared to Dinah, Lauren, and Normani. Heck, even Camila was a lot less innocent than her.

Normani just shook her head. “I need to go the bathroom.” She turned to look at Ally with a small smile. “Ally, come with me please?”

Ally nodded vigorously. She wasn’t sure she could handle Dinah’s teasing anymore. “Yeah, sure.” Normani reached over and grabbed her hand. Ally blushed as her heart fluttered at the contact. She followed Normani towards the bathrooms.

It wasn’t until a solid fifteen seconds later that Ally realized they were going the wrong way. Her eyes widened. “Hey, Mani? I think the bathrooms are at the front of the campground.”

Normani chuckled, turning back to look at Ally. Gosh, Normani looked so pretty. She didn’t think it was even possible for a person to be this pretty. But she was a hundred percent sure her pansexual was showing. It was so hard to keep it at bay when there were hundreds of attractive people in the world.

“I know they are. But we’re not going to the bathrooms.”

She furrowed her brows. “I don’t get it.”

Normani smirked. “I guess I gotta spell it out for you princess. I didn’t feel like hanging around the clown formerly known as Dinah Jane while she makes fun of Gothren and Dorkmila.” Ally found herself giggling at her nicknames for their two friends.

“You’re right. It’s not really our business,” Ally said. “Camila and Lauren would make a cute couple.”

“Not you too,” Normani groaned. “But I think they’re already a thing. I caught them sucking face in the bathroom of the Panera we stopped at in Springfield.” Ally’s eyes widened in shock causing Normani to giggle softly. “I don’t think their relationship is a good idea.”

Ally furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

“Lauren… She,” Normani said before pausing and taking a deep breath. “Lauren can’t date Camila. She’s got someone back home.”

“You’re joking.”

“I wish I was.”

Ally bit her lip. She didn’t take Lauren as a cheater. Even in high school, Lauren was a loyal girl. She never cheated on any of her boyfriends or that one girl that was a summer fling. So yes, the news was very surprising. Chicago must have changed Lauren way too much.

Ally shrugged her shoulders, halting her steps. Normani stopped too as she noticed Ally’s concerned expression. “That doesn’t sound like Lauren. Lauren’s a good person. She wouldn’t willingly break people’s hearts and cheat, would she? Gosh, I don’t know.”

Normani nodded slowly. “Last time I checked Lucy and her were on good terms. They weren’t back together but-”

“Mani,” Ally interrupted, “you left out that she and Lauren weren’t together at the beginning of the summer.”

“I don’t know! Everything is so rocky for them. One day they’re fighting, the next day I walk into our apartment to find Lucy pounding into her with a-”

Ally quickly squealed. “No,” she whined. “Don’t you dare tell me those details, Normani Kordei!”

“Oh, yeah,” Normani mumbled with a smirk. “I forgot you were a prude.”

Her eyes narrowed and she huffed. Placing her hands on her hips, she shook her head. “I’m not a prude!”

“Is that so?” Normani took a step closer to her. “Prove it.”

Ally didn’t know what type of courage filled her, but suddenly she tightened her grip on Normani’s hand and pulled her in the direction of the wooded area to their right. Honestly, she had no idea where she was going, probably to their death for all she knew. Normani willingly followed her. She found themselves on a path that headed in the direction of the river. The Mississippi River, that’s where she would prove Normani that she was cool enough to be her friend.

They reached the end of the path and found themselves on a small beach. It was secluded with two large granite boulders on one side of the beach and a bunch of tall grass on the other. The river was rushing quickly and the sound of it was like music to Ally’s ears. She freaking loved it. Above them, the sun was setting, painting the sky with vibrant orange and yellow colors.

“So this is how you’re going to prove your point?” Normani asked incredulously as she let go of Ally’s hand. She took a step forward and looked at Ally over her shoulder. “Take me down to the river, underneath the blood orange sun?”

Ally didn’t say anything. She just smiled and pulled her white shirt off so she was just in her purple sports bra and jean shorts. Now it was Ally’s turn to smirk and she proudly did so when Normani’s eyes widened and her mouth parted. She flipped her hair to the side seductively and pulled her black converse off. Ally sent Normani a wink and then made her way towards the river.

“Are you coming or not?” Ally asked as she waded into the river. It was cold but not as cold as Lake Superior. No body of water could be colder than Lake Superior.

Normani looked like she was in a trance. But after a few seconds, she snapped out of it and pulled her baseball tee off. Ally had to admit that Normani looked even more amazing without a shirt on. Her breasts, oh Lord, they were so freaking amazing. Normani made her way to the water and smiled shyly.

Ally waded over to Normani and wrapped her arms around her neck. Normani stiffened at the contact and she half-expected her to pull away, but she stayed put. She put her hand on Ally’s waist, causing the short girl to beam up at her.

“This is nice,” she breathed out over the sound of the wind and the water rushing.

“Yeah,” Normani agreed. “I thought you were going to take me skinny dipping for a second.”

“I’m not that bold,” Ally reminded her with a laugh.

Normani’s gaze flickered down to her lips. Ally forced herself to continue looking up at Normani. “It’s so beautiful out here.”

Normani edged closer to her. “Not as beautiful as something else I know.”

“And what’s that?”

“You.”

Ally turned bright pink. She stood on her toes and brought Normani’s lips to her. Normani eagerly kissed her back. This was her first kiss with a girl and she was proud to say it was her best. Normani’s lips were so soft and gentle and Ally felt like she was floating. She was right about Normani’s lip ring, it turned out to be her absolute favorite thing ever. The cool metal hitting her own lips drove her crazy. 

She squeezed her eyes shut. Lord knows how long they would end up kissing, but she didn’t want to stop anytime soon.

* * *

“That giraffe is so cute,” Lauren commented.

“Not as cute as those giant pandas we saw earlier,” Camila replied to her, resting her head on Lauren’s shoulder.

“Camz,” Lauren whined. “You missed a great opportunity to call me cute.”

“You’re not cute, Lauren.” Lauren pouted at Camila. Camila just rolled her eyes and stood on her toes to peck her cheek. “You’re really beautiful. Cute isn’t the right word to describe you.”

The five of them were now in Memphis, Tennessee, which was not at all far away from St. Louis, but there had been a drastic change in the group dynamic. 

For starters, Lauren and Camila admitted their feelings for each other and were now a couple. When Normani asked Lauren about Lucy, she said that she would end things for good. Apparently, Lucy was better off with a girl named Vero anyways. As for Normani and Ally? Arguably they were a lot cuter than Lauren and Camila. They didn’t tell the group yet, but Normani and Ally were definitely an item. She and Ally weren’t ones to flaunt it around though.

Speaking of Normani, she still hadn’t gotten back from getting Ally a snow cone and she was getting impatient. She didn’t know how long she could last being around the sickly sweet couple and Dinah, who kept trying to pick up “random cowboys” who went by.

“Here’s your snow cone, babe,” Normani said, coming up from behind Ally.

Ally tensed up at the surprise of her girl’s arrival but relaxed. She turned around and smiled widely at her. She took the frozen treat from Normani’s hand and blew her a kiss. “You’re a lifesaver, Mani Bear.”

“Don’t call me that,” Normani gruffed. “I’m supposed to be a big scary lesbian.”

“Well, you’re my big, scary lesbian that’s actually a cuddly teddy bear.” Ally wiggled her eyebrows.

Normani crossed her arms over her chest. “Whatever you say, Ally Cat.”

“Hey!” Dinah shouted, causing the two couples to turn around and look back at the Tongan. The four of them watched as Dinah crossed her arms. “You idiots can’t just be in here and make me be the fifth-wheel. I can’t believe I’m the single one!”

“Cheechee, Ally and Normani aren’t a couple,” Camila defended.

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Camz, they clearly are. Look at them!” She pointed to Normani who was standing very close to Ally. Ally looked up at Normani, but she made no move to step away from her. 

“They could be close friends,” Camila said with a shrug.

Normani leaned down and pressed her lips to Ally’s. Ally beamed widely and kissed Normani back, ignoring the sounds of Dinah’s cheers and Lauren’s loud laugh. She stroked her girlfriend’s cheek and then pulled away. Normani looked so elated like she just found out that she won the lottery and Ally was the prize.

Lauren pressed her lips to the top of Camila’s head. “Told you, Camz.”

Camila huffed and rolled her eyes.

Dinah placed a hand over her heart and swooned. “Ah, young love, I’m the facilitator of such beautiful relationships. I could be the next goddamn Cupid.”

Normani rolled her eyes. “Shut up, DJ, you didn’t do anything. All you did was complain about the lack of cute boys in the South and eat a whole bunch of potato chips.”

Ally burst out in giggles and covered her mouth as she realized how loud she sounded. For a girl barely five feet tall, she sure had a loud laugh.

Dinah reached over and took Ally’s snow cone. She examined it and then ate a part of it. Ally’s jaw dropped in disbelief and she felt Normani tense from next to her. But this was a typical Dinah thing, she always ate everyone’s food. Usually, she’d eat Ally’s because Ally wouldn’t complain about it. Lauren would murder her on the spot.

She handed it back to her with a grin. “Sorry, Smallz, food tax.”

“For what?” Ally asked for clarification.

“Mm.” She licked syrup from the side of her mouth. “Because I’m your best friend and I need to be paid.”

Normani narrowed her eyes, slinging her arm over her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Girl, you better fall back.” Ally smiled widely and stood on her toes to press her lips to Normani’s cheek. Her actions caused Lauren and Camila to squeal excitedly as they clutched onto each other.

“Y’all might enjoy your time together before we separate and go back home,” Dinah scoffed.

Ally knew that Dinah was right. They may have built strong romantic relationships with each other, but who knew if it was going to last afterward? Long distance was so hard to deal with. Ally had trouble keeping in contact with Dinah and Lauren and only seeing them over the holidays. What would happen if she never saw Normani again? Ally got used to someone being by her side and treating her like a princess for the past few days. Normani lived in Chicago. Chicago had lots of people and pretty girls. Duluth was a different story. Normani could easily move on and find someone else.

Ally noticed that Lauren’s face fell. “She’s right. Ally and Camz are gonna go back to Minnesota and Mani and I are going to go back to Chicago.”

Normani’s gaze met Ally’s. She looked utterly desolate. Ally wanted to comfort her, but she didn’t quite know how.

“I’m done with college though,” Ally said. Normani’s face lit up. “And the professors at UIC were very interested in me taking a couple of semesters to study at their labs.”

Normani grinned. “Wait, really? You didn’t mention that! That’s awesome.”

Ally bit her lip. “It’s not confirmed, though. I’m up against a few other potential graduates.”

She hated how Normani’s face fell again like that. Her so-called tough punk girlfriend easily became a cute puppy around her, so upsetting her felt literally like kicking a puppy.

“I’m still praying that I’ll get in. I was one of the top students in the class, so it’s very possible,” she added in an attempt to cheer Normani up.

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I’m not as lucky as Ally,” she said dejectedly.

Lauren threw her arms around Camila. “Camz, no, we’ll figure something out. There’s no way I’d let go of you this easily. You make my lotus bloom.”

That comment was strange. She figured Lauren was a poetic queen, but that sounded so corny that it gave an actual corn a run for its money. Apparently, Normani and Dinah agreed, because they both roared with laughter after that.

Camila bit down on her lip. Only then did Lauren realize her mistake and blushed furiously. “Okay, Universe: 1 and Jauregui: 0, I get it.” She held her hands up in defense. “Let me try this again.” The green-eyed girl grabbed Camila’s hands and forced her to look at her. “I never knew karma could be so rewarding and bring me to your light.”

Camila cooed and pressed her lips to Lauren’s. Ally turned her head away. She had a good feeling that the kiss they were sharing wasn’t that PG.

Dinah looked over at Normani. “So, Mani, got any poetic words to woo Ally over?”

Ally scrunched her nose and frowned. “Are you saying I’m not poetic?”

“Sis, you failed the poetry unit in high school. You said so yourself.”

That shut Ally up.

Normani beamed down at Ally. “Okay babe, I guess I could give it a try.” She cleared her throat. “You’re my Cleopatra, my blushing Juliet. I’d do anything for your love. You're my ride or die.” Ally couldn’t contain her grin and nuzzled into Normani thankfully.

“Ha, gay!” Dinah hollered.

Lauren finally pulled away from Camila. “You know, I just realized now that all of us are being very homosexual in Tennessee. Isn’t it homophobic?”

“Sweetie, everywhere you go you’ll find homophobia,” Camila said. “It’s a sad fact. Now, are we going to go enjoy the zoo or what?”

* * *

New Orleans was supposed to be a city of fun and excitement; a city filled with livelihood and lots of chances for them to go clubbing. But all everyone felt was sadness. New Orleans marked the end of their road trip. Two weeks spent together and two blossoming romances were formed. It was too early to say that they were in love or anything, but Ally knew that Normani could dang well be the one for her.

They spent the last night at a DoubleTree in downtown New Orleans. Ally got free hotel rooms because of her parents’ points. But no one felt like celebrating, well no one except for Dinah. She was beyond pleased to sleep on a nice comfortable bed instead of the hard ground in campsites or nasty beds in motels. The two couples were solemn due to it being their last night together. The plane tickets were changed without warning so now Dinah, Ally, and Camila were flying to Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and Lauren and Normani were headed to Chicago O’Hare airport. Normani and Lauren’s flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half before theirs, but they agreed to go to the airport and see them off.

Breakfast was silent except for Dinah slurping the milk in her cereal obnoxiously.

Ally turned to glare at her best friend. “Dinah, really?”

Dinah just shrugged. “Live a little, Smallz,” she replied.

Ally rolled her eyes as she brought her cereal bowl to her lips and began drinking the milk. Normani and Lauren exchanged disbelieving glances. As for Camila? The poor girl was dead asleep on the table.

Her best friend guffawed and clapped her back. “Man, you got balls. I wish I saw this kind of behavior when you, Laur, and I used to go backpacking on the Apostle Islands.”

“It’s not that bold,” Ally said. “It’s bad manners, but no one is going to kick me out for it.”

Normani smiled proudly at her, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Ally figured it was because she knew that this would be one of the last few hours she would spend with her for a long time. Ally smiled widely at her.

“Is anyone going to wake Camz up? We have to leave, like,” Lauren paused and checked her watch, “right now.”

“Why don’t you, Lauren?” Normani suggested. “Since she’s your girl and all…”

Lauren made an obscene gesture with her hand that caused Ally’s eyes to widen. But she reluctantly moved over to shake her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Camz, wake up, we gotta go.”

“No,” Camila mumbled, shifting in her chair so she wasn’t facing Lauren. “Because if I wake up that means I gotta say goodbye to you.”

Both Ally and Dinah went “awwww!”. Dinah leaned over in her chair and threw her arms around Ally. Ally hugged her back and did her best to not giggle at Normani, who was glaring at Dinah. Lauren’s cheeks flushed red and she continued to pester Camila. Dinah decided to get up and get herself another bowl of grits.

Normani turned to look at Ally. She reached over and grabbed Ally’s hand, catching her by surprise. But she showed no signs of astonishment, and smiled over at her.

Her girlfriend sighed quietly. “I’m gonna miss not seeing you every day, small town girl.”

“It’s not for forever,” Ally insisted. 

Normani narrowed her eyes. “I’ll come to your apartment in Duluth with a U-Haul if you don’t get into the program.”

“Babe, UMD doesn’t have a music business program.”

“Whatever, I’ll study ice fishing.”

Ally giggled at her girlfriend. “That’s not an actual major.”

Normani huffed. “You’re being very difficult.” She pouted at that. Ally was never difficult, or at least, not on purpose.

“I’m trying to make you think about your actions before you do stuff that you’ll regret.”

“I live with no regrets,” she assured Ally. “Don’t worry about me.”

“And those were her last words before she took the plunge of death.”

* * *

Saying goodbye was so hard. Camila clung to Lauren the entire way through security. Ally could have sworn she saw Lauren tearing up too. Normani had her arms around Ally the whole time too. Poor Ally wasn’t even strong enough to walk around with her girlfriend putting a bunch of weight on her.

They reached the gate just in time. Lauren and Normani were supposed to board right then. Goodbyes were going to be bittersweet.

Dinah hugged Normani briefly. “It was nice to meet you, Normani, take good care of Lauser.” Normani nodded slowly and gave her a soft smile.

Dinah hugged Lauren next. Lauren hugged her back, nearly squeezing the life out of her. She tended to be very intense when it came to hugging. “Damn, Ralph, I’m going to miss you too. We’ll Skype every Sunday, don’t you worry.”

Lauren bit down on her lip. “Of course.” She turned to Ally and held her arms out. “Come here, sista, I can’t leave without a hug from Ally Brooke.”

Ally beamed and bounced over to Lauren. She hugged her best friend tightly. “Take good care of Normani,” she mumbled. “I don’t want her to mope around because I’m not there.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “That won’t be easy, but I think I can manage it.” Ally stood up on her toes and kissed her cheek.

She turned to Normani next. Normani looked on the verge of tears and it almost made Ally cry. But if she were to start crying, then Normani would bawl. “Oh, Mani, babe, come here.” Normani surged forward and brought their lips together. Ally kissed her back. Both of them had different intentions. Normani seemed desperate and eager to keep kissing her, but Ally wanted their last kiss to be slow and sweet to be reminiscent of their relationship. 

Eventually, they broke the kiss. Normani sniffled, causing Ally to pout. “Don’t cry, it’s not the end. This is just the beginning.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” she grumbled and wrapped her arms around Ally. Her girlfriend squeezed her tight. UIC girls must be crazy tight huggers. Ally coughed quietly.

“Can’t breathe,” she wheezed.

Normani pulled away. “Shit! Sorry, babe.”

“Last call for boarding for Flight 1780 to Chicago O’Hare,” the lady behind the counter announced.

Ally turned to look over at Lauren and Camila. She wished she didn’t. Lauren and Camila being that tangled up in an airport should have been illegal. Lauren looked like she was going to swallow Camila’s face off.

Dinah stomped her foot. “Knock it off, lesbos!”

Camila and Lauren broke apart with a start. With one last embrace, Lauren took off towards the line for boarding. Normani hugged her too and pressed a kiss on top of her head.

The three of them stood and watched as their friends boarded the plane. Ally’s phone rang. She looked startled once she saw the caller ID, but this call was important. She brought the phone up to her ear and bit her lip.

“Hello?” she stuttered.

_ “Hello, this is Doctor Simon Cowell from the University of Illinois Chicago Bioscience department, am I speaking to Ally Brooke Hernandez?” _

“This is she,” Ally replied.

_ “Excellent. I’ve called to inform you that you’ve been accepted into our post-graduate study program and request that you come to Chicago as soon as time allows it.” _

Ally squealed excitedly. “Oh my gosh, really? No way. God bless you. This is such an amazing opportunity! Thank you so much, sir!”

The doctor chuckled quietly.  _ “I look forward to meeting you in person, Miss Brooke.” _

Ally thanked him once more and hung up. Dinah and Camila both looked over at her expectantly. She couldn’t hide the grin on her lips. “I got in! I’m going to UIC!”

Dinah and Camila screamed excitedly. Ally was lifted in the air by Dinah. She found herself looking in the direction of Normani and Lauren. Both of them had stopped to watch the commotion. Ally’s gaze met Normani’s.

No words could describe the elated feeling in Ally. She was going to see Normani every single day for a long time.


End file.
